


Splash But It’s Gay

by imoldgreg



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies), Splash (1984)
Genre: Additional Tags To Be Added As The Story Unfolds, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Alternative Universe - Late 70s Early 80s New York City, And Yes There Will Be Merman Dick, Credence Is Alan, Credence Won’t Admit His Feelings, Depraved Percival, Fluff, Guilt, Height difference, Idk Cre Is A Bit Confused Bless, M/M, Masturbation, Mentions Of Merman Dick, Mentions of past child abuse, Merman!Percival Graves, Messy Handjob, Moody Credence Barebone, Percival Has No Sense Of Modesty, Percival Is Hopelessly In Love, Percival Is Madison, Pining, Short Percival, Slow Burn, So Yes That Does Mean He Has Long Blonde Hair, Some Kind Of Guilt Related Kink ??, Struggling Scientist Newt Scamander, Tall Credence Barebone, This Isn’t Planned Out Properly But It’ll Probably Be About 3/4 Chapters, Unrequited Love, one sided affection
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-30
Updated: 2018-08-27
Packaged: 2019-06-18 18:10:36
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15491703
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imoldgreg/pseuds/imoldgreg
Summary: An overworked and lonely Credence finds a merman who wants to mate with him. What else is there to do but ‘go with the flow’?(New chapter coming soon)





	1. The common occurrence of finding a body on the beach and discovering it’s your soulmate

**Author's Note:**

> I watched Splash a few nights ago and became so enthralled with the idea of Percival as Madison I ended up writing this and half of the second chapter in one night. This is mostly unplanned but I have the loose plot from the film to work with, and yes it’s tooth rotting stuff.
> 
> Enjoy :)

American waters were so different to the dark Irish seas Percival originated from, and so much warmer. They brought with them such exciting things, like tropical fish and slim lined dolphins, and so many more humans could be found in them. 

Many of them liked to lay or stand on top of boards and slide along the waves, whereas others sat on sleek white boats that shot over the skin of the water faster than Percival could imagine. There seemed no ends to what American humans liked to do with their ocean, and it had intrigued Percival terribly.

But now he’d been swimming around these parts for a few days, and he was hungry, and he missed home, and he feared he’d never be able to find his way back. He’d swam out too far, successfully losing his father’s guards by joining an unexpected pod of orcas that decided to hunt nearby, but then the whales had gone miles and miles away from what Percival considered familiar, and he’d been stranded in the middle of an unknown expanse of blue.

After drifting for a few hours in any direction he though he hadn’t already gone, a huge fishing ship had stormed past him dragging a cruel metal net along the sea floor, churning up masses of murky white sand and trapping thousands of panicked fish. It’d frightened Percival so much he’d darted away in a blind hurry, and hidden in a nearby reef. When he’d dared to venture back out again, long after the ship had sailed by, he realised the water was fairly shallow, and when he peeked above the surface he was barely a mile away from a beach with huge buildings surrounding it.

At the time it’d been terribly new and exciting, but now Percival was miserable. It was dark, so he lay slumped on a large rock barely a few feet away from the shore, letting his tail splash mournfully in the shallows. Back in Atlantis he was a prince, his every whim catered for. He didn’t need to learn how to hunt, or how to take care of himself, or how to navigate in open sea. It seemed those skills might’ve come in quite useful after all.

Percival sighed heavily, his skin cold in the open air. The moonlight made his tail shimmer prettily, but even his own beauty was for once little consolation for him. He should’ve listened to his father and stayed in the designated waters. Large nocturnal sea birds perched on nearby rocks or circled overhead, eyeing the weakened merman hungrily, their curved beaks glinted menacingly in the moonlight.

But then a heavy thud on the sand opposite him had frightened him, the birds suddenly flapping away from the intrusion, and he’d slipped quickly back under the surface of the water, his tail easily propelling him a good few meters away from the rock. Percival hovered anxiously. No further noises or movement seemed to occur, so very gingerly Percival swam closer.

When he reached the rock again he let his curiosity take over, and he peeked above the water carefully, his webbed hands lightly gripping the hard stone surface for some sort of protection.

A body lay on the sand, the shallow water lapping at the legs a little. Percival frowned intrigued and glided closer. The body remained unmoving, a long strand of orange seaweed drifting onto its ankle, brought in by the low tide.

Percival very slowly reached out and removed the weed, and when still no response came from the body he became so bold as to drag himself up onto the water logged sand barely a foot away from his find. The shallow water barely submerged his tail fins. If anyone else were on the beach at this time, Percival would’ve been exposed, but his curiosity was too strong.

The body, Percival was sure it was the body of a man, was dressed in a smart tuxedo, the tie missing and a few buttons undone from the shirt. He didn’t move, or make any noise, and Percival started to wonder if the man was dead. Was he allowed to eat humans?

Percival blanched at the idea of having to deal with the innards of the man, or the bones. He wasn’t really sure what eating something raw entailed, all his food back in Atlantis came neatly presented and ready skinned and filleted. He wasn’t even sure if it was even possible to eat humans meat, what if it was poisonous?

Percival hesitated a little way away from the body, taking in everything he could from the distance. He reached out and with two fingers he lifted up one of the hands, before letting it flop limply back down. His stomach growled painfully.

He dragged himself even closer, until he was laying on top of the man, and he held his face in his hands to see what he looked like.

That was all it took. A single look, and Percival knew. 

He was in love. Without a doubt. This body, however dead they might be, was the one he was going to spend the rest of his life with. He had to.

The man was beautiful, he was more beautiful than anything Percival had ever seen. He had a shock of black hair, in thick curls, with dark eyebrows and sooty lashes, a strong bone structure and plump lips. He looked as though he belonged in some kind of enchanted forest, not cast out like a broken toy on a filthy beach.

Percival slid his fingers over the man's face, staring at him with complete adoration. He twined his fingers in his hair. He gently pulled open one of the lids to reveal an unseeing golden eye, being extremely mindful that his claws didn’t get in the way.

Percival didn’t know what to do, so overwhelmed by sudden love and beauty, so he kissed him.

His hands must’ve been holding the man’s face a little too tightly in his excitement, because he groaned loudly, his head lolling unconsciously to the side to get away. Percival was thrilled, and his tail trashed in the shallow water by their feet, sending water droplets scattering around them. The man was alive! His love, his surely one true love that he really could never be parted from again was alive! They could be together and have children and be in love and-

“Hey what are you doing?” a loud voice that was far too close broke Percival from his ecstatic train of thoughts, and he jolted himself away from the body. A dark figure was running heavily over to them, and in a sudden rush of panic Percival quickly dragged himself back into the sea, almost beaching himself as he attempted to submerge himself in deeper waters.

He barely made it, his tail beating the water as fast as he could to get away from the scene, slapping heavily against hard sand, his heart hammering against his ribcage, his skin shuddering terribly. He allowed his head to breach the surface when he felt he was a safe distance away, and already his heart ached to be close to the man he’d kissed.

The dark figure was talking to the body, Percival couldn’t make out what he was saying, but then the figure helped the man stand and they shuffled away from the beach together. Percival was outraged. That was his mate! Didn’t that stupid human realise that? How dare he lay a single hand on him without Percival’s permission?

In a desperate attempt to do something about the situation Percival swam quickly back to where the man had been laying originally, circling agitatedly in the shallows as he repeatedly raised his head to miserably find that his love had not returned.

But although the man remained absent, Percival noticed a little brown square on the sand. He dragged himself up a little, so barely his shoulders were fully exposed, and stretched his arm out to retrieve it. Not willing to hang around on the sand again for fear of the angry dark figure's return, Percival plunged back into the sea, and investigated the square in the safety of the reef.

It was made of some kind of thick brown skin, and it opened to reveal different slots holding lots of different coloured plastic squares, and green paper rectangles. Percival scrunched up his face in confusion, before he brightened suddenly. Another plastic square, one which at first had looked the same as the others, had an image of the man he’d fallen in love with on.

Percival grinned, twirling himself in the water and clutching the brown square to his chest. If he showed this to another human they’d be able to lead him to the man! Oh thank Neptune, his mate wasn’t lost to the cold clutches of the city, and they could find their way back to Atlantis together.

But which human would be able to help him? His father had told him terrible stories of what humans had done to merfolk in the past, how they could never reveal their true nature, how they had to hide from persecution. Even when it was full moon, and they were granted the gift to walk among the land folk for six days before returning to the sea, they were still bound to secrecy out of fear of the human's natural urge to kill what is different.

But Percival remembered seeing a huge green human who didn’t seem like the others, wearing some kind of crown, and holding aloft a scepter. And Percival wasn’t stupid. Clearly this human was royalty among the others, and he was royalty among merfolk, so the two of them had something in common. The large silver orb in the sky promised him legs and human features if he set foot on land away from sea, and as long as he didn’t let his secret show, he was convinced the green human would help him find his mate.

With his goal in mind and target set, Percival set off, making sure to keep a tight hold of the brown square, his heart fluttering excitedly with every beat of his tail.

\---

'CONFUSED NUDIST ARRESTED AT THE STATUE OF LIBERTY, FRIGHTENS TOURISTS'

Credence rolled his eyes at the ridiculous story, his nose buried in the paper. He didn’t know why he bothered buying these trashy tabloids, but they were a guilty pleasure of his when his skull felt as though someone had taken a hammer to it, a result of a rather messy bachelor party he’d been to last night.

He scoffed at the 'confused nudist', muttering bitterly under his breath that the stupid prick was probably from California, where they did all that weird 'back to nature’ hippy bullshit, and judging by the mane of shoulder length blonde hair and the smooth tanned skin shown in the grainy newspaper photograph, Credence was right.

But maybe he was being too harsh on the guy, and he was just in a foul mood. 

Which he was; last night’s drunken adventures had lost him his wallet, and subsequently the five hundred dollars he’d only just taken out from the bank barely a day ago. He sighed miserably, tossing the paper into the bin. He couldn’t be bothered with 'confused nudists' right now.

“Hey how you feeling?” his brother, Jacob, peered his head round the door to the office, giving Credence a broad smile which he struggled to return. 

He and Jacob co-owned and co-managed a national chain of bakeries, and currently he had himself tucked away in their joint office, sulking, unwilling to oversee anything properly due to his hangover and terrible mood. Normally he’d have been the ideal boss and coworker, but today he rather unfairly was leaving everything to Jacob.

His older brother took his forced grimace as an invitation to come in, and Credence was about to sigh again when Jacob sat down on the desk in front of him, folding his arms and fixing his younger brother with an unimpressed look. Credence sank back into his chair with folded arms, scowling at his shoes. He knew Jacob was about to lecture him about pulling his weight and taking responsibility, but just as his brother opened his mouth to speak the telephone rang.

Silently thanking every deity there was, Credence picked up the receiver. Jacob sighed irritably.

“Hello, Credence Barebone of Kowalski’s Baking Ltd speaking, how can I help?”

“Mr Barebone? This is the New York City police department, we have a man here who’s looking for you, doesn’t speak any English but he seems adamant that he knows you. He’s got your wallet if that gets you down here any quicker.”

“My wallet?” Credence raised his eyebrows, his mood actually lifting a little. Someone had seriously taken their time to hand in his wallet? In New York City? Wonders will never cease.

“Yes that’s right, and if you could get down here within the hour, this isn’t a waiting room and we babysit,” and with that the cop on the other end of the phone hung up. Credence blinked, but stood up and grabbed his jacket.

“Where are you going?” Jacob frowned as Credence made for the door, clearly wanting his younger brother to actually do some work.

“Someone’s handed my wallet in Jake, can you believe it?” Credence beamed, a huge weight lifted from his shoulders as he jogged down to his car and started the engine. He prayed his cards were safe, deciding that bankruptcy was probably the least desirable thing that could happen to him.

Getting to the station in under an hour wasn’t easy; as always the city traffic was hideous, but eventually Credence arrived at his destination, taking the stairs two at a time as he walked into the reception.

“Hi, Mr Barebone, someone called and said a man had my wallet?” Credence smiled at the woman behind the desk, who didn’t bother looking up from her paperwork as she shouted his request back to the officers who were busy sifting through files behind her. One of them raised their hand in response and gestured to someone sat on one of the seats.

Credence froze when he saw the man. Long blonde hair reaching his shoulders, an oversized novelty t shirt that came down to his thighs with the statue of liberty on the front being his only clothing, and smooth tanned skin. The 'confused nudist’ sat looking terribly happy at everyone who walked by, his whole face brightening immensely when he saw Credence.

Credence heart sank when the man stood up and kissed him, his body frozen in horror. This crazy man had asked for him? And now he was kissing him?

“What.. they said you had my wallet..?” was all Credence could stutter out, holding the man at arm’s length by his shoulders.

The man smiled handsomely, leaning in to try and kiss Credence again, but this time he held him firmly away. What was wrong with this guy?

“Ok I think that’s enough pal,” Credence ignored the man’s confused expression, instead taking note of the wallet he held in his hand. He took it from him a little too quickly, opening it and checking nothing was missing.

“Thanks for the wallet,” he spoke slowly as if speaking to a child, pocketing his wallet and making his exit. He frowned to himself as he left, almost rolling his eyes to the back of his skull when he noticed the man was following him.

“No no no, you go now,” Credence frowned, pointing away from himself at a random direction, and the man’s gaze followed his arm innocently. He blinked at Credence, still smiling.

When Credence backed away a few steps, the man still followed. He tried to embrace him, similar to how a child would, but Credence once again stopped him by gripping his shoulders. He shook the man gently.

“You can’t come with me. Go home, yes? Family, understand? Go away,” Credence raised his eyebrows, making a shooing motion with his hands. As the man still continued to not understand Credence began to feel an increasing feeling of inevitable dread that he wasn’t going to lose his unwanted follower.

He tried to ignore this outcome, turning his back on the stranger and walking down the steps quickly, walking towards his car. When he reached the vehicle he checked to see if he was still being followed, and thankfully he wasn’t, but somehow this made him feel worse.

The man was sat on the bottom step, his t shirt 'dress' clearly not keeping him warm in the early autumnal weather. He had his head in his hands, his blonde hair hiding his face. Could Credence really leave him? He didn’t seem to have anywhere else to go, or understand a thing he was being told, and on these kinds of streets surely someone would take advantage of someone as clueless and undeniably attractive as him.

It really had nothing to do with Credence. He didn’t even know the guy, he had no responsibility over what happened to him. Why should he even care?

But the guy had handed in his wallet, without taking so much as a cent, and in a city like New York that was a rarer occurrence than seeing a unicorn in broad daylight.

With an irritated groan Credence banged his head on the roof of his car, annoyed with his own conscience, and walked back over to the crumpled figure on the stairs. He glared at the man as coldly as possible, folding his arms.

“Look, I’m not saying you can kiss me again, but if you really don’t have anywhere else you can go you can come with me ok?” he sighed as he spoke, rolling his eyes as the man looked up at him a little tearfully, his eyes suddenly sparkling at the sight of Credence.

Not willing to stand around on a chilly street waiting for him to understand, Credence gestured impatiently for the man to get up and follow him, and then decided that leading him by the bicep back to his car and helping him inside was much quicker. When he got in he started to drive back to his apartment block, silently apologising to Jacob for not returning to work.

“What’s your name? You must have that at least?” Credence glanced at the man as he drove, the poor guy rubbing at his eyes with the back of his wrists. Credence sighed heavily and handed him a tissue from the glove box. He wasn’t accustomed to a man who so easily wept, but maybe whatever culture this guy was from embraced that.

“Ok so maybe you don’t have one, but I’m Credence ok? Credence,” he looked over at the guy to see if he understood, and almost got another kiss in return, but Credence gently pushed him back by the chest with a scolding tone he usually used for dogs.

It was extremely difficult making conversation with someone who knew no English, but the man entertained himself perfectly well by staring out of the window, in awe of everything. Credence couldn’t help but frown a little. Hadn’t this guy ever been to a city before?

When they arrived at Credence’s apartment building the doorman gave them a questionable look, most likely directed at the 'dress' the man was wearing, but Credence forced a light hearted comment about his cousin being a little crazy, and pushed his oblivious guest into the revolving entrance.

Credence had to go round at least twice to retrieve the man and pull him into the lobby. It seemed spinning doors were akin to a fairground ride.

He didn’t even try using the lift for the very same reason.

“This is my place, ok? Home, this is home,” Credence sat the man down on the sofa, speaking as slowly as he could and thumping his own chest to emphasize the apartment being his.

The man beamed at him, biting his lip as he gazed around at everything, but staying obediently on the sofa.

“Now I’ve got to go back to work or my brother’s gonna kill me, but here, use this money and this menu for room service. Order any food you need, just press the buttons ok?” Credence handed the five hundred dollars to the man, deciding if he wasn’t going to steal his wallet before then he probably wasn’t going to bother stealing his money. He pushed the phone as close as the cable would allow towards the man and handed him the room service menus, gesturing towards the buttons on the phone, and then the correlating numbers on the menu.

The man held everything very carefully, looking a little overwhelmed, so Credence switched on the TV to distract him and waved a vague goodbye before leaving. It was a strange feeling having someone else in his apartment. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d even shared a bed with anyone let alone a flat.

Maybe it was a ridiculous idea to bring a complete stranger who couldn’t speak English and could very realistically turn out to be a crazed serial killer into his home, but something about the man made Credence trust him, gave him a weird sense of responsibility over him. Maybe this was one of those destined meet ups, where fate brings two people together-

Credence frowned to himself and shook his head as he hurried down the stairs. For God’s sake, he sounded like a lunatic.


	2. The confusing situation when the man you’ve fallen in love with buys you pizza but doesn’t want to cuddle you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Newt and Credence both discover the same thing at different times and both react in completely different ways

Newt couldn’t believe it when he saw it. He’d been sitting on the very edge of Liberty Island, on the shore. A heavy piece of equipment sat in his lap that monitored changes in wavelength in comparison to deeper waters. Exciting stuff. His superiors didn’t value his work or his investigative skills, so he was always given the worst tasks with the littlest scientific impact.

He’d been terribly bored, staring blankly into the blue water as the cutting Autumn wind chilled him through his coat. He missed summer.

And then Newt had seen it. A sleek glittering shape beneath the water, gliding smoothly, circling barely a meter away. At first he’d assumed it was a shark, but the upper half of the creature was pale, almost flesh coloured, with some kind of golden fur trailing from its head. Was that.. hair? Were those arms?

He sprang to his feet, the heavy equipment clattering heavily to the ground, probably breaking. Newt didn’t care. He was transfixed. The creature swam close, until two recognisable but decidedly not human arms reached out of the water, and hoisted itself up onto the shore a few feet away from him.

Newt froze. The humanoid creature seemed to be in some discomfort, twisting slightly as what most definitely had been a thick and shimmering tail slowly shrank into two muscular legs, and the spiked opaque fins protruding from the spine and forearms folded into and under the skin.

The now human man sat on the beach for a few moments, stretching his new limbs. His hair was long and golden, and fell about his shoulders in thick waves. 

Newt's eyes must’ve been the size of dinner plates. The man was unbelievably beautiful, but barely seconds ago he'd been a mangled nightmarish hybrid between fish and human. Could he be a siren? A mermaid? Some kid of kelpie? Newt had heard stories of all of these things but never believed truth to any of them.

The man staggered slightly as he got to his feet, completely naked and clearly not bothered by his lack of clothing, and started walking away from the shore and onto the island. He hadn’t seen Newt, and the scientist watched him leave, his mouth half open.

This would be the scientific discovery of the year, possibly even his whole life. Proof that a previously fictional beast was alive, and there was probably a whole race of them out there. He’d be rich, his papers published and finally respected, his superiors, even Grindelwald, would be forced to finally recognise him as one of their own, finally worthy of joining their status, their clubs, their seminars.

The naked man was causing a lot of attention on the island, tourists rushing to him for pictures while the security guards tried to drag him away. A tour guide rushed over from inside the statue of liberty with an oversized novelty t shirt, and the guards pulled it over the man's head, much to the tourists disappointment.

With a sudden spark to his movements, Newt sprinted ahead of the crowds back to where his rented boat lay on the shore, hurriedly pushing it out into the water, eager to get back to Battery Park so he could find a payphone and request a meeting with Gellert. He couldn’t wait to tell him what he’d seen.

\---

Percival was out of his depth, and he knew he should’ve been worried about how far away he was from home and how he was going to get back, but everything was so exciting. The huge buildings, the noisy streets, the brightly coloured traffic. Everything was beautiful, full of glittering lights and enticing smells.

He’d ordered almost everything on the piece of paper the man he’d fallen in love with (Percival had come to find out that his name was Credence) had given to him, and had been delighted with the array of delicacies brought to him.  
Being as ravenous as he was, Percival consumed everything, laying back against the plush sofa idly when he’d finished. He stretched out his new legs, and wriggled his toes. It was incredible how a full moon could change him so. Even his hands were no longer webbed, his claws gone, his forearms free of fins and his back absent of his dorsal fin. It was strange, but all so terribly exciting.

He wasn’t sure where Credence had gone, but one moment he’d been here and the next he’d gone. He hadn’t seemed too keen on letting Percival kiss him, or even touch him for that matter, but maybe he just hadn’t yet realised that they were meant to be together.

Still, Percival didn’t let himself dwell on the complications, and instead found himself captivated by the vivid moving box Credence had brought to life in front of him. It used the same language as the humans, and showed people doing different things, accompanied by bright effects and unnatural noises.

Percival found himself engrossed, sitting on the edge of his seat as so many bright visual spectacles occurred at once. At one point the ocean was shown, and Percival almost fell right off the sofa in excitement.

Words started to become familiar, and soon he found he could pronounce a few of them. One in particular stood out for him, when he’d seen sparkling gowns and iridescent jackets and tight shirts, all apparently from a place called Bay Saint. Percival looked down at the green paper in his hand, and remembered handing some to the people who brought him the food he ordered. Was this how human’s traded for things?

The clothes shown on the box were incredible, almost as fine as the royal cloaks and gowns worn back in Atlantis, and Percival decided he really couldn’t be seen in the strange dress he had on any longer. He was a prince, he deserved to look like one.

Percival pulled on a coat that hung by the door to keep him warm and held his green paper tightly in his hand, before slipping out of the door. He tried to follow the same steps he and Credence had taken to get up to his apartment, but this time going down. It proved more challenging than it looked; every floor looked identical, every door the same. 

Percival was starting to fear he’d never make it out, but then he found the spinning doors again and without much difficulty managed to exit them onto the street.

A man by the door in a smart uniform asked him if he was alright, and Percival smiled at him.

“Bay Saint,” he spoke as confidently as he could in such a newly developed language, and he beamed when the man understood what he wanted. The man nodded and shouted at a yellow car, which stopped just by them.

“Here buddy, you get in there and don’t get out until the cab driver tells you to, ok?” the man helped him into the yellow car and banged on the roof with his hand, and the car started moving.

Percival was amazed.

He tried his best to make conversation with the driver, who seemed a little unsure but responded all the same.

“So what’s with the dress pal?”

Percival looked down at his outfit, cringing a little. Back home he wouldn’t dream of letting his people see him like this. The sooner he got to this 'Bay Saint' place the better.

“I just got here today,” he smiled, playing with a lock of his hair as he gazed out the window, amazed at the miles and miles of shining cars, all gridlocked together.

“I can tell, what’s that accent?” the driver raised an eyebrow, managing to escape the traffic somehow and get the car moving again.

Percival paused. What was he supposed to say to that? He couldn’t exactly say 'Atlantian'.

“Irish,” he quickly decided on, and he grinned, pleased with himself. The driver seemed happy enough with that as his response, and then the car stopped.

“Alright buddy we’re here, now you go buy yourself some normal clothes yeah?” the driver smirked at him, and when Percival handed him the stack of green paper he laughed. “Woah there richy rich, just one of those will do.”

\---

Credence was beside himself. He wasn’t sure why. He really shouldn’t care. Honestly he should be glad. Relieved even. He should be celebrating.

But he wasn’t, and in fact he was extremely worried about the whereabouts of the man he’d let stay in his flat. He’d like to say the only reason why he was worried was because of the five hundred dollars he’d given him, but something about the way Credence's gut had twisted uncomfortably when he’d arrived home and found the flat empty told him that wasn’t the reason.

He sprinted down the stairs, checking every floor, asking everyone he saw if they’d seen him. No one had.

Credence made it down to the entrance, almost knocking over the doorman in the middle of changing shifts. He swore, but Credence had no time for that.

“Where did he go? Did he tell you? Did you see him leave?” he panted as he spoke, silently cursing all those cigarettes he’d smoked in college.

“What? Who?” the doorman snapped. He glared at Credence for being so rude and tried to get past him to his locker to get changed.

“The man I brought home today, with the long hair,” Credence gripped the man’s sleeve, frustrated that he couldn’t just give a simple answer.

“Alright calm down, he wanted to go somewhere.. to.. Bay Saint, that’s the one, now let go of me,” the doorman frowned, tugging his arm away and marching past.

Bay Saint? Why on Earth would he have gone there?

Credence groaned, hailing a cab and promising the driver double if he got there quicker.

\---

The human tendency to acquire more and more expensively lavish items was fascinating. Percival had let himself be wrapped up in the fast paced bustle, having uniformed person after person recommending him anything he looked at, and taking his green paper in return for beautiful garments.

Now his arms were laden with huge paper bags filled with the most beautiful clothes Percival had ever seen, his own frame still unfortunately dressed in the hideous thing he’d been given before, but he was looking forward to changing outfits a great deal when he arrived back at Credence’s apartment.

But now he was hypnotized by the rows and rows of flashing boxes, all playing the same images, all chanting and flickering and vivid. He seemed to have wandered into some kind of shop that sold these boxes, because the rows of them seemed endless.

Currently there was a woman in tight shiny garments and fluorescent leg warmers bouncing up and down, her wild frizz of blonde hair almost electric as she moved. She danced in a rhythmic way, her legs raising and her hips shaking.  
Percival put down his bags and copied her.

He found he learnt a lot of the language the American humans spoke in his hours spent by the boxes, and several times when men in suits tried to tell him to 'leave' he actually managed to answer them, but it never seemed to be the right answer because they always looked confused at each other and walked away again.

Then, after Percival had been enjoying himself in front of the boxes ('television sets', he found they were called) for a good few hours, someone grabbed him roughly by both arms, and shook him. Percival was about to try and wriggle free or push his attacker back, when he saw it was Credence, and he melted into nothing but a lovesick puppy. He couldn’t stop himself smiling, or unintentionally gazing at every beautiful detail of his love's face. His golden eyes, his high cheekbones, his plush lips-

“What the hell were you thinking? Anything could’ve happened to you!” Credence's tone was vicious, and his grip on Percival’s arms hurt a little, but his eyes showed nothing but relief. Percival couldn’t help but preen that his mate had been worried for him.

“Excuse me sir do you know this man?” one of the men in suits that had tried to talk to Percival earlier came over, looking exhausted.

Credence turned to the man, letting go of Percival but keeping a hand protectively on his bicep.

“Yes I do,” Credence didn’t seem too pleased to admit this fact. “I’m so sorry if he’s caused any trouble.”

“He’s been here all afternoon, the store needs to close,” the man in the suit sighed in exasperation, rubbing his forehead.

“I’ll take him home right away, I’m so sorry. He doesn’t speak any English that’s all,” Credence nodded to the man, trying to drag Percival out of the shop, but he was eager to show off that yes, he actually could communicate to his mate now.

“Yes I can,” he announced proudly, and the man in the suit rolled his eyes.

“Look pal, I might not be the sharpest guy around, but I know English when I hear it.”

He looked extremely relieved when they’d left.

“Since when can you talk?” Credence was watching Percival warily as he lead him out the shopping mall, one hand still holding his upper arm tightly. Credence had volunteered to carry his bags for him, looking pale at the small amount of green paper handed back to him.

“All those televisions, they taught me,” Percival grinned, pleased with himself for his achievement. Credence looked as though he might faint.

“Just.. come back to the apartment, it’s late,” his mate shook his head and rubbed his forehead, letting go of Percival to hail a yellow car.

Percival assumed Credence wanted him to wait, but the city at night was twice as exciting as it was in the daylight, and he found himself enchanted by the neon lights glittering above him, the brightly lit shop windows and the thick smells coming from the stalls on the street.

“What’s this?” Percival called over his shoulder to Credence, who seemed surprised that he’d moved and quickly jogged over to him to pull him back.

“Those are traffic lights, they make the cars go and let people cross,” he sighed as he spoke, but Percival couldn’t believe such small green and red lights on a pole could control such mighty beasts that roared and thundered around him.

“And what’s this?” Percival pulled away from Credence again, but this time his mate was quicker and managed to stay with him, his hand catching Percival’s wrist.

“That’s a restaurant, you’re looking in the window at the people eating the food they serve,” Credence explained, before a yellow car finally stopped at the curb for them, and he dragged Percival away.

Percival’s stomach growled, and he realised just how hungry he was. Credence seemed to hear it too as they got in the car, and he told the driver where to go.

“We’ll order pizza ok? It tastes way better than that fancy shit,” his mate smiled at him as the yellow car started to move, and Percival smiled back. He held Credence’s hand, and Credence rolled his eyes and laughed a little. There was a pause before he pulled his hand away, and Percival bit his lip in anticipation.

It was a strange feeling, to want something so bad but being repeatedly denied it, however Percival didn’t feel deterred at all. If anything, he felt spurred on by Credence’s rejection of him, he felt encouraged. When in the presence of him all he could think about was taking him, properly, how a proper merman should take his bride, make him his forever, seal their bond.

He couldn’t wait to show him Atlantis, have him meet his father. He and Credence could rule the seas together, and nothing could come between them.

But he could only do this if Credence saw who he really was, and Percival wasn’t sure the man would take too kindly to that.

What human would?

When they arrived back at Credence’s block the sky had grown even darker, and the city had blossomed in its own extravagance, but before Percival could wander off again Credence pulled him through the spinning doors and up the stairs. His apartment was warmer than the outside air, which had nipped at Percival’s skin and given him goosebumps on his exposed flesh.

“Don’t leave without telling me again ok? Jesus Christ I almost had a heart attack when you weren’t here when I came back,” Credence held Percival by the shoulders as he spoke, almost a full head taller than him, and Percival gazed up into his eyes reverently. He raised a hand to Credence’s cheek, stroking his thumb over the man’s high cheekbone, but his mate pushed his hand away a little uncertainly.

“I'll order us a pizza,” Credence frowned and moved over to the phone, picking up the receiver and pressing some of the numbers on the box.

Percival sighed, deciding to investigate the contents of the many paper bags he’d arrived back with. He couldn’t help but feel a thrill at looking over all of his purchases as he poured them out onto the floor.

He’d acquired silk shirts and glittering dresses that the shop assistants had looked at him questioningly for buying, and woolen jumpers and tight trousers and shining shoes and embroidered robes fit for a king. He’d also bought himself beautiful jewels to hang about his person, and thin chains to wear on his wrists or around his neck. He adored the intricacies of each item, and undressed quickly, excited at the prospect of not having to wear the t shirt dress anymore.

Credence finished on the phone, and almost yelped when he saw Percival sitting naked amongst the piles of his expenses.

“Come look at what I’ve got,” Percival grinned up at him, currently holding a glittering jewel that was to be hung around his neck.

Credence nodded weakly, sitting down heavily opposite Percival. He seemed uncomfortable.

“Can’t you get some underwear on or something?” he spoke mainly towards the wall, hardly able to even glance over at Percival without his eyes dropping to between his legs. Percival looked down at his human genitals, confused as to why Credence had such difficulty looking at it. It wasn’t anything as impressive looking as when he was a merman. In fact a human penis looked rather boring.

But he obliged to his mate’s wishes, and pulled the t shirt he had been wearing previously over his crotch. Credence settled easier after that, though his face was aflame the whole time Percival was showing him his new clothes. His eyes couldn’t stay in one place, and often they were looking at his arms, or his chest, or his belly.

When the pizza came Credence stopped Percival standing up in case the t shirt fell, and instead greeted the man at the door and collected the food from him, bringing it over to where Percival was sat on the floor instead of moving them to better seating.

The pizza was incredible. Percival had never tasted anything so rich, and he relished every bite. Credence only had a slice or two, so Percival happily finished everything off for him. His appetite as a human seemed incorrigible.

While he ate Credence seemed distracted, and he looked at Percival quizzically.

“So.. now you can talk, do you mind telling me what your name is?” he asked, an eyebrow raised.

Percival paused in his eager consumption of the pizza, frowning a little as he thought. He wasn’t quite sure how to say his name in English. He was sure that if he tried to say it in his own tongue it’d shatter the windows.

Instead took a pen from a nearby surface, and he wrote it, as best he could, onto the cardboard pizza box. Credence looked confused, trying to work out the illegible scrawl on the box. Then his face cleared and he smiled.

“Percival? Is that what it says?”

Percival nodded brightly. The way Credence pronounced his name seemed to fit what he heard in his own tongue.

“So, Percival, what about where you came from? Can you tell me that?” his mate leant back on his hands, fixing him with a curious gaze.

“Far away from here, I got lost,” Percival carried on eating, finishing the pizza and gratefully taking the damp cloth Credence handed to him, wiping his face and hands.

“You got lost?”

Percival nodded, watching as Credence stood and put the boxes in the trash. He let his eyes roam appreciatively over the man’s form.

“But where did you come from?”

“Ireland,” Percival answered quickly, remembering his response earlier in the yellow car.

Credence looked as though he was more than happy to continue his questioning, and Percival realised he didn’t actually have enough answers prepared to deal with his mate’s curiosity without arousing suspicion, so he stood up abruptly, and the t shirt fell. Credence made an irritated sound and had to look away again, sighing heavily.

“Jesus, can you stop doing that?”

\---

Credence's apartment was small, and despite the fact he had more than enough money to purchase something bigger, he’d never seen the point. His family was his brother, who lived barely a few blocks away and who he saw every day at work. His friends were practically non existent, and they never visited. A partner wasn’t in the picture, and probably wouldn’t ever be.

So there had never been the need for a spare room, or a couch that pulled out into a bed, or even a blow up mattress that could be put onto the floor and slept on.

But now the need had arisen in the shape of a man with long blonde hair and the biggest cock Credence had ever seen. When Percival had decided to sit naked on his floor and invited Credence to join him he hadn’t known where to look, and even when he covered himself he’d been acutely aware at all times of the massive extra limb the man had.

He gave him a spare t shirt and boxers to wear, and Credence tried very hard to forget the confusing image he’d allowed himself to see and tried to focus on what on Earth they were going to do about the bed situation. His sofa was too small for either of them to sleep on without waking up to a chiropractic emergency, despite Percival being so short, but Credence was convinced the man would be even more insistent on kissing him if they shared a bed.

However there wasn’t another option, and something in his gut told him that renting out a hotel room for Percival to spend the night alone in was a bad idea.

Credence took a long time brushing his teeth and washing his face, his eyes constantly catching his bathroom mirror which reflected the image of his adjoining bedroom, where Percival sat cross-legged on top of the bed covers, entertaining himself by flicking the bedside lamp on and off.

He couldn’t quite fathom that Percival was real. There was something so naïve about him, the man barely had a clue what anything was, and the way he looked… Credence couldn’t help but be drawn to his beauty.

But now he had no other jobs left to do in the bathroom, and he had to go out and face sharing a bed with someone he wasn’t quite sure he trusted himself with. If he just went straight to sleep there’d be no issue.

Percival perked up immediately when Credence came back into the room, doe eyed and smiling prettily, but Credence turned out the lights to stop himself responding. He got under the covers and folded himself firmly in the opposite direction to Percival, who seemed a little confused. Credence felt him slowly begin to tuck himself under the covers as well, his movements careful and unsure.

He closed his eyes tightly, trying to keep his body as far away from Percival’s as possible, but then two strong arms closed gently around his waist. Credence froze as then the man’s body pressed up against the back of him, and he found himself being held.

It was a surprisingly comforting feeling, being protected by another body, and Credence could’ve easily fallen asleep like this. In all honesty he could’ve fallen asleep in Percival’s arms every night for the rest of his life-

That thought alarmed him, and it made him wriggle away, and push his elbows back into Percival’s belly to make him move back. He felt cold when the man reluctantly removed himself from Credence’s frame.

Credence tried to remind himself this man was a stranger, and that this whole situation would end in disaster if he let feelings get in the way. There were probably other reasons, ones which made him feel uneasy at the prospect of letting down his guard, and ones that reminded him of how undeserving he was of such things as affection. His mother’s voice echoed in his mind, effecting every thought so it twisted back onto itself and festered cruelly.

Credence frowned to himself in the dark, and curled in on himself further. He squeezed his eyes tightly shut, determined to go to sleep and ignore all those unwanted feelings.

He wished Percival would try and hold him again.

He heard the man sigh heavily, and then the bed shifted as he got up. Credence listened as Percival left the room and locked himself in the bathroom, and he frowned a little when he heard him running a bath.

He waited a few minutes to make sure he was really hearing correctly, before sitting up and turning on his bedside lamp. The clock which stood on his bedside table showed that it was almost midnight. Why on Earth would Percival be running a bath at this time of night?

The pipes in the apartment building were old, and made a deep rumbling sound when large amounts of water rushed through them, so residents were advised to use the shower instead of the bath, especially at night. Percival was going to wake up the entire block.

With a tired sigh Credence pulled himself out of bed. His stomach twisted a little as he approached the door, and he hoped a great deal that Percival wasn’t upset about Credence’s rejection of him.

He knocked on the door, and he heard a startled gasp from within.

“Percy? Are you alright?” Credence called gently, the endearment slipping past his lips without him meaning to.

There was a pause, and some sudden splashing.

“I’m.. I’m fine!” Percival’s voice was stuttered and a little high pitched, and Credence began to worry.

Had he hurt himself?

“Why are you getting a bath so late?” Credence’s tone sounded a little accusatory, so he quickly added, “The pipes are too loud, Percy, you’ll wake everyone up.”

The taps ceased their gush of water, finally silencing the gurgling pipes. There was more splashing. It sounded panicked. 

Credence frowned, his concern increasing. He tried the handle, but Percival had locked himself in.

“Are you alright? Let me in.”

“Just.. hang on a minute!” came Percival’s less than calm response, and judging by the noise of the water he was struggling with something.

When a loud thump that was undoubtedly a body hitting the floor of the bathroom sounded, Credence decided he had no choice but to make sure the man was ok, and he braced his shoulder against the door heavily. The lock was a weak plastic thing that he’d purchased as a quick replacement for the old metal one that had broken, with every intention of going and getting a proper lock when he had the time. There had been no need for a stronger one however, because Credence lived alone, so there was no danger of anyone ever needing to use his bathroom.

Now this weak plastic bolt was a blessing, and it easily gave. Credence rushed into the bathroom, expecting the worst. He couldn’t have prepared himself for what he actually came across.

Percival lay on his front, his arms braced against the floor by the bath, clearly somehow fallen from it. He was staring up at Credence with frightened wide eyes, and Credence couldn’t help but look at Percival in the same way.

He had a .. tail. It was long, and slick, and a deep sea green, with scales that reflected the light to look iridescent. The fins at the end were large, mimicking a similar shape to a whale's tail, but they were slightly opaque as the skin stretched neatly over spines.

A similar fin appeared on his back along his spine, like some strange version of a shark's. Thick gills covered his neck. His hands were webbed, and clawed, and from the underside of his forearms and jawline protruded fins similar to that of his tail's. His hair remained the same, rich in its golden light and majestic waves, but Credence could no longer admire the beauty of it.

He didn’t know what to do, what this.. creature was. Was it real? Was this just some kind of sick joke?

“Credence..” what should’ve been Percival tried to speak, his voice hoarse, and he reached out an unnaturally aquatic arm to try and grasp his leg, but Credence suddenly lost his nerve and backed away, slamming the door quickly.

He pushed the sofa all the way from the living room to the bedroom, and barricaded it firmly against the bathroom door to stop the ‘thing’ getting out.

Credence sat on his bed for a long time, his eyes fixed to the bathroom door. He didn’t know what to think, or what to do. What were you supposed to do when you found a mermaid in your bathroom?

It couldn’t have been real. Surely it couldn’t have been. Mermaids were impossible. They simply didn’t exist.

Should he call someone? But who would believe him? It wasn’t as if there was a mermaid lost and found hotline he could get onto. If he rang the authorities they’d have him committed.

A few hours of staring fearfully at the bathroom door, Credence decided enough was enough. This was his apartment, and if there was a monster in his bath he was going to confront it. He couldn’t just never go to the toilet again.

With a frying pan in hand as his protection, Credence heaved the sofa away from the door, and with incredible caution, peeked inside the room.

No longer half fish, Percival, the real human Percival, sat on the closed lid of the toilet, his knees drawn up to his chest with his chin resting on top of them. The floor of the bathroom was now dry, and the bath was empty.

Percival raised tearful eyes to Credence when the door opened, but didn’t try to move. He looked terrified.

Credence held the frying pan tightly out in front of him as if it was a gun, his hand shaking badly.

“Right, you tell me what the fuck that was, what the fuck you are, and you tell me everything right now.”


	3. The annoying situation when you give a merman a handjob and then rub one out to him later in your car, only for him to go and get his ass kidnapped by a deranged scientist

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS IS TRASH IM SO SORRY I’m in no way doing this fic justice!!!!
> 
> Also I didn’t expect this fic to turn into a slow burn but I guess that’s what it is now
> 
> (But boy get ready for some weird ass merman/human sex in the next chapter hoo hoo)

“Mermaids?” Grindelwald repeated, staring at Newt over his papers as if he was mad. “You think there are mermaids, who can conveniently turn into people, just wandering around New York City? And you seriously want me to make others aware of your delusions?”

Newt tried not to shrink in his chair. Grindelwald was huge, even sat down behind a desk, and his mere presence crowded him terribly.

“They aren’t delusions, I saw it with my own eyes professor,” he struggled to look up at the man when he spoke, and his voice wouldn’t stop quivering.

He heard Grindelwald snort.

“Newton you’re pathetic. Reaching this far into your idiotic fantasies just for some recognition? You’ll never be anything more than a joke.”

Newt glared at his knees. His teeth hurt from how hard he was clenching them, and his nails were digging into his palm deep enough to draw blood. His work in the past might’ve not amounted to much, but this time he knew he was right. He’d seen it. He’d seen a mermaid off the coast of Liberty Island and this time he wasn’t going to let Grindelwald win.

“What proof do you need? I can get you anything, I know what the creature looks like, I can track it down and show it to you. It’s real I saw it, why would I make this up?” his voice sounded as if he was going to cry with frustration. Maybe he was.

Grindelwald rolled his eyes and leant back in his chair. His eyes bore into Newt’s with such ferocity he had to drop his determined glare again and stare meekly at the dark gloss of the wooden desk between them.

“Alright Newton. If you bring me the mermaid, not just a scrap of hair or an unfocused photograph, the entire creature alive and breathing, by tomorrow, I’ll believe you,” the man’s voice was saturated with the smug smirk undoubtedly playing around his lips. Newt crumpled slightly. By tomorrow? How was he supposed to find the creature in such a huge city by tomorrow? And how was he supposed to get it to the university?

He wasn’t about to argue this point with Gellert, however, so Newt reluctantly agreed to this proposal, and Gellert told him to leave because he had to start getting ready for an important dinner tonight, and he obediently did so.

On his way out of the university he halted in the middle of the street (much to the passers by's annoyance), and stared hopelessly around himself. How on Earth was he supposed to find this man? Within twenty four hours?

He hailed a cab and got into it to escape the chilled autumnal breeze that had started to kick up, and as he gazed of the window at the millions and millions of people hurrying along the street, his heart stopped.

Newt almost shouted at the more than disgruntled driver to stop, and he fought his way out of the taxi door before the car had even slowed down, almost toppling himself into a parked car in his haste.

The man, the same exact man Newt had seen just yesterday morning transform from a fish into a human, with the same shoulder length golden hair and the same doe eyed expression, stood barely a few feet away from him at the entrance of a large block of apartments. He was holding a large paper bag from Bay Saint, the shopping mall downtown, and the man he was talking to was checking the contents and nodding appreciatively.

Then the man the mermaid was speaking to moved the both of them further into the doorway to be out of the crowds, and Newt could’ve sworn he saw them kiss before the man left the doorway and got into his car, and the mermaid disappeared inside the apartment block.

Newt couldn’t believe it.

He thought about following the mermaid but the doorman at the entrance looked less than friendly, so he decided to wait until a better opportunity arose. However the man who had left in the car was barely halfway down the street, so Newt scrambled back into the taxi he’d left waiting and ordered him to follow the man's car with such exuberance the driver became nervous.

\---

Last night had been .. different, to what Credence was expecting. He wasn’t sure what he’d seen, but somehow Percival was indeed a mermaid. Or was it merman? Quite honestly Credence didn’t care.

He’d managed to calm down after almost assaulting Percival with a frying pan, and they’d moved things to the living room, and the man had told him everything, about how Percival was a prince, heir to the Atlantian throne. Not only were merpeople real (and judging by Percival’s description there were a lot of them), but the supposedly 'lost' city of Atlantis was real too. And it was somewhere off the coast of Ireland.

They’d talked it through for a long time, about how Percival had found Credence on the beach on the night of the bachelor party, how he’d found his wallet and sought him out to give it back to him. How Percival only had six days on land before he had to return to the sea.

How Credence was supposedly his mate. That part worried him.

And it worried him even more after how the events of last night had played out.  
His hands tightened around the steering wheel, turning his knuckles white. For once the gridlocked traffic did nothing to annoy him.

Why on Earth had Percival’s confession lead to their embrace? Credence tried to stop himself cringing right into the leather of the car seat as he remembered the kiss, and what had turned into a lot more than a kiss.

Percival had been so honest with him, and Credence had been drawn to his blatant vulnerability. He supposed it was nice to find a guy who didn’t come with ulterior motives.

But Percival’s honesty had drawn out Credence’s own, and he’d ended up spilling everything about his childhood, and his dreadful beast of a mother. The times spent locked in the cupboard resulting in a terrible fear of the dark that still stayed with him today, the rationed meals that barely scratched at the surface of his hunger, the belt he’d been forced to wear that his mother had used as a cruel form of discipline. Credence had even told Percival about the bedwetting problem he’d suffered with for an embarrassingly long time, and about his fear of putting his head under water due to the water-boarding style baths his mother used to give him.

Percival had been furious that his own flesh and blood could’ve treated him in such a way, so Credence had hastily explained that she had been arrested long ago, and that Jacob’s family had adopted him when he was about fifteen. He was happy now, he’d explained to Percival, truly he was.

He didn’t mention how crushingly lonely he was.

And then they’d kissed. Credence couldn’t stop thinking about it.

It was different to how Credence had remembered it. The only person he’d kissed before had been a girl he’d known when he was sixteen, a friend of Jacob’s, and they’d formed an awkwardly physical relationship for just over three years before she’d left for university in another state. That kiss wasn’t anything like the one last night.

Percival had been so gentle, so very, very gentle, and the hand that had cupped Credence’s jawbone was so soft. He would’ve expected it to be strange kissing a man. He would’ve expected to feel repulsed, the weight of his mother’s teachings suddenly resurfacing and crashing down upon him.

But it didn’t feel like that. It had even felt.. nice.

In retrospect, things probably wouldn’t have turned out in the way they did if Percival had just been wearing clothes. But of course he wasn’t.

When Credence had suddenly realised what was pressing against his rear he’d almost jumped off the sofa. Kissing a man was one thing. Actually seeing the more than sizeable ‘fifth limb’ he had was another.

But Credence had been rather hard himself from the animalistic grinding during the kiss, and Percival looked as though he might pass out if something wasn’t done soon, so, much to his present disgust and embarrassment, Credence had wrapped his hand around Percival’s cock, and started to stroke him.

It had been a strange feeling, and Credence had no idea if he was doing it right, but Percival had ending up cumming hard over his stomach and most of his hand.

Credence shuddered as he squeezed the steering wheel further. Finally some of the traffic was clearing, and his route to work wasn’t as slow as it usually was.

If it wasn’t for Jacob’s impromptu invite for him and his 'date' to the dignitary dinner tonight, Credence might have kept driving, and never come back. He didn’t really know what to think, but all he could think about was bloody Percival.

The man had been excited about the prospect of the dinner when Credence had told him, even though he clearly had no idea what dignitary meant, or what was so important about the people attending. He’d even gone out while Credence was getting ready for work and sorting out a breakfast for both of them, and had returned proudly carrying yet another bag from Bay Saint, just catching Credence as he left for work.

Admittedly the suits Percival had chosen for himself and Credence had been beautiful, but then the man had tried to kiss him in front of the thousands of people hurrying along the street, and Credence had hastily pushed him back inside the entrance of his apartment block to shield them.

The memory of the soft kiss Percival had given him before he’d gone back inside was driving Credence insane.

He wasn’t sure what on Earth he was feeling towards the man but whatever it was it was starting to make itself known in the form of a painfully inconvenient erection.

Credence wrestled with his conscience for a good three minutes before pulling over in a quiet side street, and dealing with his problem. He couldn’t help but focus on the softness of Percival’s lips, the thickness of his length, the smooth tanned skin with muscles that almost bulged underneath it.

He squeezed his eyes shut and covered the lower half of his face with his free hand, rubbing himself quickly. The guilt that surged up from the mere action seemed to spur him on, and quite suddenly he was a sweaty mess, with disheveled hair and a filthy mind.

Afterwards he realised the time, and quickly set off again, shamefully wiping his spend from the inappropriate places it had got onto. He tried not to think about Percival again.

Maybe the man really was driving him crazy. He could’ve sworn the same taxi had been following him the whole way to work.

He shook off his paranoia, and parked up outside his office, hurrying inside. He tried not to think about the hurried footsteps that seemed to be mimicking his own.

\---

Spying on someone wasn’t Newt’s specialty. Crouching on a fire escape about three stories up with an ear pressed to the tiny gap between the window and the sill wasn’t how he’d pictured his scientific career to end up like.

Especially not after having a wait awkwardly in a taxi while the driver of the car he'd been following gave himself some less than subtle 'respite' from the road.

Newt could barely hear a thing as the two men discussed mundane business topics like taxes and insurance. He’d at least gathered their names however, with the one he’d followed supposedly being called the unusual name of 'Credence' and the one he was speaking to being called Jacob.

Newt was almost drifting off when finally they moved onto a different conversation, one which caught Newt’s interest.

“What about the dinner tonight? I’m bringing Queenie obviously, who are you bringing?” Jacob questioned, and Newt heard Credence sigh deeply.

“I know you’re just going to try and set me up with one of your unbearable friends again if I say no one, but actually this time I have a date already.”

“Seriously?”

There was a snort, probably from Credence, who then said, in a rather offended voice,

“Don’t sound so surprised!”

The two then began discussing the details of Credence’s date, who was obviously the mermaid and had apparently adopted the name Percival, and Newt sat back on his heals and thought hard. Grindelwald had said something about a dignitary dinner he was going to tonight, surely it couldn’t be too far fetched to assume that Credence would be going as well? And if he was it would be easy to lead Percival away from the crowd and prove to Gellert what he really was.

Water must have some effect upon him, maybe it would cause Percival to react a certain way or maybe sprout a fin or two. If it didn’t then maybe it would prove Newt really was crazy.

With his goal in mind and a sudden awareness that workers were beginning to pour out of the buildings below him and wouldn’t take too kindly to a stranger clambering around on their land, Newt quickly and rather awkwardly half tumbled back down the side of the office building, and tried to walk as nonchalantly as possible to where he’d asked the taxi to wait.

He ignored the concerned shout from a security guard and with a high pitched voice urged the taxi driver to drive and very quickly. The resulting journey ended up costing a lot, and the driver swore he’d never drive him anywhere again.

Newt apologised profusely, but inside his mind buzzed like a live wire. He couldn’t wait to see the look on Grindelwald’s face when he proved himself right.

\---

This was it. Percival was in love. He’d never felt this way about anyone.

Last night had been perfect, Credence had finally kissed him, actually touched him. Percival had been thrilled, but Credence didn’t seem to match his eagerness in letting Percival reciprocate the physical contact. He’d left very quickly after bringing Percival to a surprisingly hard release.

He wished that Credence could see him and truly appreciate him in his true form, that he could see what he could do for him and give to him, and how much more impressive his cock was as a merman than as a human.

But he couldn’t think about that now. Credence had been shaken this morning and had barely managed to meet his gaze, but had returned Percival’s kiss with unexpected enthusiasm before he’d left for work, and now the two of them stood in front of the long mirror in Credence’s bedroom, clad in the beautiful suits Percival had chosen them both. He himself would’ve preferred to wear one of the beautiful glittering gowns he’d purchased yesterday, but his mate had assured him rather hurriedly that human males didn’t dress themselves in such garments, and they had to wear suits. And suits, Percival had found, were incredibly dull to look at, and far too constrictive.

But he’d yielded to his mate’s wishes, and tried to find the best out of a shop full of dreadfully boring suits. The ones he’d chosen for them both were made of exquisite silks with fine embroidery, though the price made Credence grow pale.

“I have to admit they’re nice, Percy, but don’t you think they’re a little… showy?” Credence admired himself in the mirror as he spoke, and Percy watched him appreciatively from his comfortable seat on the bed.

“It’s a big dinner, you need to look good,” Percival grinned at him, and Credence caught his eye in the mirror and flushed. “But you’re not wearing the jacket right.”

Percival stood and came up behind his mate, gently easing his hands over the fine fabric to smooth out the creases Credence was unintentionally putting into it. He heard his mate inhale sharply as he started to do up the buttons correctly, sliding his hands gently over Credence’s body as he did so. He felt the man push back against him and slide his own hands over Percival’s lower arms, their breath mingling hotly.

“We should get going Percy..” Credence breathed, turning his head to meet Percival’s, their lips brushing almost unbearably.

Finally Credence let them kiss after unintentionally teasing Percival with his closeness, and they both melted into it.

Everything was perfect. Percival knew this was how it was supposed to be, what his life had been missing, how lonely and meaningless his existence was until this moment.

It was a deep kiss, with slow languid licks into each other’s mouths, something which would’ve puzzled Percival had it not made him strain at his trousers with anticipation and slide his hands over Credence’s body. His mate was breathless, legs trembling as he pushed his behind firmly back against Percival’s erection, skin burning in a deep flush.

The height difference between them wasn’t obvious, but once or twice Percival had to go up onto his toes, which made Credence smile.

Their heated embrace was interrupted abruptly by the box on the wall ringing, and Credence pulled away hurriedly to answer it. As he spoke into the receiver it seemed he was speaking to someone who was telling him to 'hurry up' , and he was hastily fixing his hair and jacket. Percival stood uncomfortably, unsure of what to do about the tightness of his trousers. His human instinct seemed to be to touch it, but he had no idea if that was what he was actually supposed to do.

There wasn’t time for that anyway, because Credence was tugging him out the apartment and down the stairs, suddenly in one of his moods. Percival felt himself whimper a little; human emotions were painfully confusing to recognise and understand.

Credence hurried them both into the car, and Percival tried not to watch him as he drove, lest he fall prey to attempting to kiss him again.

\---

The dinner had almost started, and Newt was practically clinging onto Grindelwald's shoulder as the man hissed in his ear to 'go away, you’re attracting too much attention’ . Impersonating a waiter and only hovering around one man did seem suspicious, but Newt was far too anxious to care. If Credence didn’t show up with Percival as he’d promised Grindelwald, the professor would be less than pleased.

“Sir I swear Credence was coming to this dinner, I overheard it, maybe he’s just running late,” Newt stammered in a hushed voice, too close for Grindelwald’s comfort.

The man swatted him away irritably, and viciously hissed,

“I’ll deal with your incompetence later, now fuck off and start serving people like you’re supposed to.”

Newt felt himself shudder at the threat, but just as he was about to start dejectedly handing around a tray of drinks with shaking hands the door opened. It seemed the entire room turned to look, and even Newt found himself captivated by the two newcomers.

Credence looked less than eager to be met with everyone’s eyes, and hurried to his table, whereas Percival was practically glowing at the attention. Newt couldn’t believe that such a monstrous creature that he’d seen crawling from the sea could become such a delicate beauty, able to entice every man and woman’s gaze and peak their interests, and as soon as he sat down the people nearest were trying to lean across their tables to speak to him, and almost everyone was throwing him appreciative gazes.

Even when the president took to the stage to begin his welcome speech, the audience still struggled to stay focused, eyes constantly darting to where Percival sat or flashing a smile in his direction in hope that he’d return it.

A hard thump on his shoulder brought Newt back from his daze, and the event organiser was glaring at him, almost spitting in his ear for him to 'get serving, what am I paying you for?'. Newt swallowed and hastily began handing out drinks to people, his pretense as a waiter obvious in his inexperience, spilling several glasses as he struggled to keep his eyes from Percival. When he glanced over at Grindelwald, even his cold heterochromatic eyes were fixed to the mermaid, a sinister smirk playing on his lips from behind his wine glass.

Newt swallowed dryly, and felt his throat click. He was starting to regret promising the professor access to Percival.

Maybe he should’ve just kept his mouth shut. The fire that danced menacingly behind the different coloured irises had less than admirable intentions, and Newt was beginning to feel sick, his stomach twisting uncomfortably. Percival wasn’t safe, not now he’d captured Grindelwald’s interest.

Newt decided he had to get them to leave, and quickly, but when he started towards Credence’s table the event organiser steered him away with a crushing grip on his bicep.

“Have you even looked at the serving order? You’re supposed to start at the left and work your way along, not just decide to charge straight through the middle,” he almost snarled, and Newt clenched his jaw to stop himself arguing. He’d already attracted enough suspicion.

About halfway through the president's speech he saw Percival lean over to Credence and whisper something, to which Credence gestured towards the door as if showing him the directions to somewhere, and Newt guessed it was to the bathroom.

As soon as Percival stood Gellert mirrored his actions and stood too, leaving the room a few seconds after Percival, his actions similar to a predator stalking a weaker prey. Newt panicked, and left his tray of drinks on an empty table, quickly following the two men out the room, much to the disgruntled event organiser's dismay.

He found Gellert waiting outside the men’s toilets, and when their eyes met there was a burning flame of unsettling excitement in the professor's, something akin to a mad man’s.

“You said that water effects him, didn’t you?” the man smirked as he spoke, eyes fixing Newt painfully to the spot.

He nodded, unable to speak. His stomach had dropped through his shoes.

“Then get in there and prove it.”

\---

“You’ve really got yourself a catch there, Credence, I gotta admit I’m jealous,” Jacob laughed gently and clapped Credence on the back as he spoke, the president’s speech long since ended.

Jacob’s wife, Queenie, didn’t seem pleased at this joke, and purposefully turned her attention to the very attractive man with an esteemed title say only a table away, much to Jacob’s alarm.

“Yeah I guess, do you think he’s alright? He’s been a while in there,” Credence raised an eyebrow and distractedly looked over his shoulder at the door, worrying his lip between his teeth.

He hoped Percival hadn’t accidentally locked himself in the bathroom, or had gotten himself lost. The guy could’ve gotten confused in a straight corridor with only one exit, for God’s sake.

“He’s not a toddler, Credence, why are you so tense?” Jacob swatted away Credence’s fears nonchalantly, leaning his chin on his hand and his elbow on the table, his brows meeting in a questioning expression.

Credence shifted a little uncomfortably. He’d been on edge since he and Percival had kissed just before the meal, mainly because he’d felt something that he wouldn’t have thought was possible to feel. He couldn’t quite bring himself to say it out loud, he wasn’t sure he could, but maybe, quite possibly, he loved Percival.

“You really like the guy, I can tell,” Jacob grinned, breaking Credence from his thoughts and making him scowl at his brother, as he was so good at doing.

“Jacob..”

“Let yourself be happy Credence, you might as well,” his brother squeezed his shoulder, smiling warmly, and Credence found himself unable to stop smiling back at him. Maybe his brother was right.

But his anxiety increased as their conversation wore on, and soon Credence realised Percival had been gone for twenty minutes, so he excused himself and left the dinner hall, walking along the corridor to where the men’s toilets were, pushing the door open .

“Percy? You alright-“

The bathroom was a total mess. A thin layer of water covered the floor, the taps all on full and the sinks overflowing, and several of the tiles on the wall were smashed as though they’d been impacted bluntly. Percival’s suit lay in a sodden heap stuffed in a corner of one of the cubicles, and a tear of netting had been caught on the door handle.

The outside corridor floor was shining with a thick wet line down the middle, as if something heavy had been dragged down it.

Credence hurried outside in a panic, his brother quick on his heels. It was raining heavily, the streets awash with streams of rain water, the fat droplets falling readily and soaking everything.

A man dressed in a waiter's outfit with thick Chestnut curls clinging to his face was hurriedly climbing into the passenger seat of a large unmarked van, and when he saw Credence he hesitated.

With a surge of adrenaline, Credence started furiously towards him, convinced that the man was responsible for Percival’s disappearance, but then an arm from the driver’s seat of the van grabbed the waiter’s jacket and tugged him inside, just allowing Credence’s a glimpse of his face. Short white hair, and cold piercing eyes.

And then the van was gone, somehow expertly weaving through traffic despite the thick jams, until it was completely out of sight.

Jacob embraced him, held him as he struggled to piece everything together.

“Credence, calm down,” Jacob muttered in his ear, and Credence was just about to angrily retort how could he possibly calm down, when his brother continued, “I know who they are.”


End file.
